Raku Firing – TBA

RAKU FIRING

DUE TO DENNIS’S DEATH, RAKU FIRINGS WILL BE CANCELLED UNTIL THE FALL.

11AM – 3:30 PM

INSTRUCTOR: BARBARA REELEY

COST: $5 per piece

We’ll be set up at 11 am to begin glazing and firing our bisques pots. Pieces have a better chance of coming through the intense heat in the raku kiln if the pieces are even thickness throughout. Cost is a nominal $5 per piece. Size restrictions are no larger than 12 inches – height or width. We should be finished firing by 3:30 pm.

Reservations are compulsory.

Call Northeast Ceramics at 518-274-2722 to sign up.

Raku means pleasure or enjoyment. It was developed in Japan in the 16th century. Over the years various ways of raku firing have been tried.

Basic American raku is a fast, low-temperature firing of a glazed pottery piece. The piece is pulled from the fire with tongs and placed in a container that has a layer of sawdust. The pottery piece will burst into flames, more sawdust is thrown on the piece. The container lid is placed on the containers to reduce oxygen.

Some potters remove the hot, reduced pots and quench them in water. After the pots cool they are gently cleaned and a fixative or wax can be put on them to seal in the color.

Raku pots are one of a kind. It is a fun process that invites experimentation and contemplation. Raku can be humble forms, figurative and/or sculptural.